Container



' July 23,1935. J. 5. JOHNSON CONTAINER Filed June 9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z I (I 3 l5 INVENTOR l7 -Johon S. Johnson.

BY m fia ATTORNEYS y 1935. J. s. JOHNSON 2,008,762

CONTAINER Filed June 9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n v 0 o 4. R n M w 0& E 6 T A. N 1 N R E5 0 I V mm wm a o y I '6 The main object of this invention is to provide Patented July 23, 1935 PATENT orricirl CONTAINER JohanSimon Johnson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Cont iner Pa ents In C ca o! 11- flfiq l f wh n o Il ino Ap i n-lun 9. 1934, Seria re-772 .882 1 9 Claims. (01. 217-12 This invention is concerned with a collapsible container of the type normally employed for the packaging, storing, and transportation of material.

a container construction of such a nature that the parts forming the side walls are all united together in such a manner that they may be folded fiat and may be set up by simply opening them and attaching the end wallsin place.

More'particularl-y the invention is concerned,

' detail in the following specification in connec tion with the attached drawings, and pointed out ii h appende cla m In th rawin s 1 is a p ct v v w 0 .9n .9 ..m? in accordance with this invention V Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the side walls in collapsed position;

Fig. 3 is a top'edge view thereof Fig. 51 is a o an i 9 the ee iie h' Side W i o e p tion; I F s- 5 a 6 a nlar e det i ws of the upper and lower right hand corner of the containe f i 4 with th a s in pa tia ly ope peeii mai d j J Fig. '7 is a perspective view. of a modified form of container or crate in accordance with this invention.

The features of construction comprising the invention herein disclosed havebeen illustrated in connection with a wooden box, and a wooden eehtaihe alth u h ii Wi 91 9Q l T P ap a e t h e ki e n th e it hem h ie l r iseer scription, that the nature of the invention is not restricted :i t he tie i a m e als eeh h ihihe. th s ru tur Th inv nti n a embed-1. 5 in a hex .e 'e ei com r se i e we ls-e d end walls Pe fmeheht y .i h l ied tqg the by hiea i j w re hin e or th ike .a' rahe diihh th ma he dilQWDi t naiieiieireieh i er rea y he dlin g, storage and shipment to the place'oi nse, and m b ahhe hihsta t \Qpehedeh i9 i h eeihbleieeehie he W19 the t e a iheiiei i ells are attached thereto. The side and end Walls are so united that they may be folded flat upon each other. Thetop and bottom walls are applied to. the container in such a manner as to increase its lateral or transverse rigidity. The full nature of the invention will best be appreciated from the following detail description and the construction in connection with the drawings. i. e The container comprises the sidewalls H) and H which have secured thereto, along opposite ends, thevertical posts or cleats IA. The units lfi'. .l4 and l l..l4 will be hereinafter referred to 'as the sidewall mats. The end walls l2. and 13 are provided with horizontal posts tor cleats [5 at the top and bottom edges'thereof. Hereinafter the end walls will be called the end wall mats. 4 -1 The 'topand bottom consists of the parts H! which have the cleats 20 secured along the'edges thereof; and will be called the top a'nd bottom mats. The side wall mat'sand the end wall mats are secured together by means of Wires l6 which are looped at'.' their midpoint as indicatedyat l fto'form a sort of hairpin structure, the legs of which pass through holes in the ends of the cleats |=5 and through properly positioned holes in the sides of cleats I4. The legs of the loop are then firmly twisted together, as indicated at 18. The ends 'are'twis'ted sufficiently s'o'that when the structure isopened up the corners of the container will be very tightly andforcibly pulled together by reason of the tension which is created on the wire hinges. T As is clear from Figs. 3 and 4, the end-wall rnats1l2 and I3 overlie the edges of the side wall mats, thereby imparting to the container considerable transverse strength by reason of the areas of contact ofthe'abutting edges which are held under tension'by the wire loops; -It will be noted, as indicated'in Fig. 3, that the arrangement of the edema end wall mats and the wire loops are such'th at one pair ofdiagonally opposite co-rners fold down to a zero angle'while the other pair of diagonally opposite corners .fold out intoa l degreea'ngle when the container is col-lapsed. This is clear from Fig. 3, and is an important feature of the invention since it is by means of this relative location and connection of the parts that it-is possible to provide a container in which the 'side'and end wall mats are permanently "secured together. Furthermore, the construction is such that it permits a com plete flat folding of the parts and'interfitting thereof when the container is opened to provide increased. transverse strength.

' l he length of the wire loops is such that When the container is opened up they are put under considerable tension, thereby drawing the parts very tightly together. This action will be clear from Figs. 5 and 6 which show the parts being opened up and before they are in fully set up position. It will be clear that as the parts pivot about each other the ends H and i8 tend to part a short distance but are prevented from doing so. The result is that the wire loops are put under great tension and the parts are very strongly pulled together, insuring a very rigid container. The top and bottom mats l9 fit down between the side wall mats which are slightly higher, as is clear from Fig. 1, than the end wall mats so as to provide a neat spring container in which the top and bottom mats likewise impart transverse rigidity to the container, and when properly formed hold the side and end walls in rectangular relationship.

As is clear from Fig. 4, it should be noted that the end wall mats l2 and [3 not only abut against the edges of the side wall mats but likewise against the projecting or overhanging edges of the cleats l4. In other words the cleats M are secured to the side wall mats so as to provide L-shaped grooves at the ends. It will of course be apparent that a similarresult can be secured where the material of the side walls is of sufficient thickness to merely groove or rabbet the ends of the side walls to give a similar result.

It is likewise applied where the thickness of the material permits that the cleats I5 may likewise be eliminated.

The features of this invention are shown applied to an open lattice .work crate in Fig. 7, comprising the side wall mats 32 and 33 and the end wall mats 3i) and 3| which are built up of outside frame pieces interconnected with variously positioned slats or braces to strengthen them diagonally as well as transversely and longitudinally. The side frame members 31 of the side wall mats cooperate with the side frame members 36 of the end wall mats to provide the corner posts which abut against each other under the tension of the wire loops, as previously described. The parts are associated in a. manner similar to that of the other construction so that they may be folded fiat and quickly opened. The top and bottom mats 34 and 35 likewise nest with the ends to impart transverse strength to the container. The construction of Fig. 7 illustrates that where desired more than two loops may be employed at each corner of the container.

It will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art that the features and principles of this invention may be applied to containers of many forms, and these features may be varied by those skilled in the art without departure from the scope of the invention. For example, the wire hinges may, if desired, consist of a single length of wire rather than the double leg loop as shown. It may likewise consist of more than two lengths if desired.

It is likewise apparent that the features of the invention are in no sense limited to the particular form or type of container employed, as for example a three-sided or a six-sided container may equally employ the features of this invention. I do not therefore desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purposes of illustration, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is 1. A collapsible container as described com- 7 and end walls arranged together to form a hollow square, the adjacent edges of the side and end walls having holes therethrough extending at an .angle to the plane of the walls in which they occur, wire loops locked in said holes and interconnecting said walls, the length of said loops being proportioned so that the walls are opened into a hollow square, the loops are placed under tension and the portions of the loops in the holes lying at other than right angles to each other.

3'. A tight corner hinge crate or box of the type described, comprising wall members positionable .to abut, against each other at adjacent edges when at right angles to each other, said wallmembers having sets of adjacent holes and wire loops in said holes of such a length that when the wall members are moved into right angular positions with respect to each other, they fulcrum one on the other and place the loops under tension.

4. A tight corner container or the type described comprising a pair of wall members having cleats along the ends thereof to form rabbets, another pair of wall members lying at their ends in said rabbets, said wall members having holes therethrough at an angle to the respective planes thereof arranged in adjacent pairs and wire connecting members lying in said holes and of such length that when the wall members are disposed at ri ht angles to each other, the wire connecting members tightly seat the second wall members in the rabbets of the first wall members.

5. A collapsible container body, comprising side and end walls arranged in abutting relation to form a hollow square, said walls having holes therein arranged to occur in pairs at the corners of the hollow square and wire members locked in said holes of such a length that when the wall members are formed up into a hollow square, the wire members tightly draw the wall members into contact at the angles.

6. A container body as described having side walls, cleats secured along opposite edges of the sidewalls, end walls having cleats secured along the top and bottom edges thereof, said members being positionable into a hollow square with abutting edges, said cleats having holes therein, occurring in pairs on adjacent walls and wire loops lying in said holes of such length that when the walls are in rectangularrelationship, the loops are under tension and the portions in adjacent 'l'ioles'lying at an obtuse angle to each other.

'7.-The combination as described comprising side wall members having a rabbet at opposite ends, end wall members abutting against the side wall members in said rabbets, all of said wall members having holes near the abutting edges thereof extending'at an angle to the respective planes thereof and wire loops locked in said holes of such length that they areplaced under great tension when'the wall members are formed into a hollow square, I

' 8. A collapsible ,tight corner container of the type described comprisinga pair of end wall mats extending therethrough adjacent each corner, wire loop passing through the adjacent pairs of holes one at each corner for hingedly securing the mats together, both legs of the loop lying n said holes, the length of said loops being less than the distance between the points where they enter the holes when the mats are formed into a hollow square so that they are pulled together under great pressure.

JOHAN SIMON JOHNSON. 

